The Grand re-opening week at the iconic Don Jose’s Mexican Restaurant and Cantina was a huge success according to Don Jose’s new manager Marcus Condreay and his wife Kiley Condreay.
For more than two decades, Don Jose’s in Kenai, situated next to the Regal Cinemas Kambe Theatre 3, has been a perfect pairing for dinner and a movie or a movie and post theatre margaritas and conversation.
“We wanted to let everyone know that Don Jose’s is here and better than ever,” Condreay said. “Kiley and I were given the opportunity to come here a couple of months ago and we were eager to meet the community so we thought we’d have a grand re-opening with customer appreciation specials, as well as an opportunity to express our appreciation to the Ramos family and staff, who over the years have put forth so much hard work and community support.”
After moving to Kenai from the lower 48, Condreay said he and his wife have greatly appreciated the warm welcome from the community. Marcus said his first job was in the food service business as a dish washer at age 16 in Nebraska and has moved through the business for the last 20 years from Ft. Collins, Colorado to the windy city of Chicago, before moving to Alaska.
“It’s been a fun journey, I love the food service industry and getting to see folks on a daily basis and visiting with them while offering them quality food, fresh food which is the signature for us here at Don Jose’s while offering great drinks at a reasonable price whenever they come in,” he said.
Marcus said they have a new menu at Don Jose’s while keeping their popular standards.
“If people only have time for a quick lunch we have a new, fast menu that is quick and easy, but we are keeping all the great favorites that we are not changing at all to keep everything the way Jose and Carmen (Ramos) intended it to be and what people have grown up with, while continuing to go forward with new things,” he said. “We are excited about the opportunity to be here and serve our new Kenai family.”
For the rest of October, Don Jose’s will continue to offer grand re-opening specials like Taco Tuesday and $6 margaritas.
Don Jose’s has a cantina that can host up to 30 guests and they offer off site catering.
“We can also cater for liquor events and are more than happy to do anything from Christmas to birthday or anniversary parties, any size off-site or we’ll close down the whole place for your party if need be,” Condreay said. “We look forward to sharing Don Jose’s with everyone in the community.”
For more information, the resturant’s website is found at alaskadonjoses.com, and on Twitter or Facebook where locals can find social media coupons, or call 283-8181.